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Blood and the Moon: Part 2
Blood and the Moon: Part 2 is the nineteenth episode of Tech 10: Star Spirit, and the seventh episode of the second season. Episode back to the elevator, where Nova is nervously explaining Theo’s current situation to a stone-faced Moranna. Nova: “So, basically, I don’t really know exactly where he is at the moment, but he’s probably fine.” Moranna: “...My son has been chasing an extremely dangerous psychopath across the multiverse for the couple of weeks or so, and I knew nothing about it?” Nova: “Well, uh...” Moranna: “And apparently just about everybody else except Isaac, including your father, knew about this?” Nova: “Uh...yes?” There were a few tense moments of silence. Moranna: “...Isaac and I are going to be having a very long talk with that boy when he gets home.” Nova: “Right uh, okay, that’s great for you and all, so...are we good? Is this all wrapped up for now? Can we move on?” Moranna stared silently at Nova for a few moments. Nova: (Desperately) “Seriously, please! You are ridiculously intimidating for a middle-aged woman!” Before Moranna could reply, the elevator suddenly stopped moving. Nova: (Runs over to the doors) “Oh thank god, finally! Whatever’s out there has to be less frightening than in here!” The elevator doors slowly opened, revealing an extremely large room reminiscent of a warehouse with an entire army of aliens in assassin uniforms aiming guns at the elevator. Nova: “Oh, what the hell?! How did you people know we were coming?!” Assassin: (Points to the elevator panel) “You left the emergency brake on! How could we not have heard you coming?!” Nova peeked back inside at the elevator’s button panel, finding a small, red lever painted with the letters “EB” flipped down. Nova: (Eye twitching) “...You’re telling me. We spent. An hour. In an elevator. Because we left the emergency brake on?” Assassin: “That’s about the gist of it, yeah.” Nova took a moment to sigh in frustration, then summoned dual arm cannon constructs. Nova: (Snapping) “You people have approximately five seconds to surrender before I start kicking your collective ass five ways to Sunday!” Assassin: (Laughs) “You’re not in any position to start making offers, kid!” Nova: “Says who?!” Assassin: “Says the army of people that didn’t leave the elevator’s emergency brake on while they used it.” Nova: “...Two things. First, granted, that’s a fair point.” Before he could respond, the speaking assassin was suddenly shot across the room by a blast of energy from one of Nova’s cannons. Nova: “Second, I don’t give a shit because I’m pissed as hell!” ---- to Theo punching his way through the horde of undead. His fists are glowing intensely with sunlight, and he actually seems to be making a dent in the horde’s numbers. After clearing out a thin patch, he pauses to smash his fists together, his body filling with adrenaline. Theo: “What are you waiting for, you rotting bastards?! Come at me!” A nearby zombie lunged at him with its sword, but instead of dodging, Theo simply grabbed onto the sword and used it to transfer solar energy into the zombie’s arm, causing it to boil and explode. Snapping the sword in half over his leg, he noticed that grabbing the sword had given him a cut wound on his right hand. The blood flowing out glowed with golden energy, heat radiating from it like a concentrated point of light. Theo: “Huh. Neat.” Theo swiftly whirled around and squeezed his wound in the direction of an approaching zombie, sending droplets of boiling blood directly into its eyes. Dropping its uniquely large sword as it stumbled around, unable to see, Theo was able to slide under it and grab the sword, smashing it into dozens of metal shards. Theo: “I don't think that's how swords usually work, but okay!” He threw the metal shards up into the air, charging his fists with energy as he did so. As the shards hit the peak of their arc, he jumped into the air and began punching them in every direction, filling them with impressive amounts of light energy as he did so. The shards soared through the air at angles that sent them flying directly into the heads of multiple zombies, transferring their energy into their target’s skulls and causing their heads to explode. Theo hit the ground rolling, jumping to his feet with a punch that sent a skeleton’s head flying. Thinking quickly, he grabbed the skeleton’s sword and softened it with heat, bending it into a boomerang shape and infusing it with more solar energy. Twirling around a few times to build up centrifugal force, Theo threw the boomerang into the undead surrounding him, causing it to slice through an incredible amount of targets before finally circling around back to him. Theo: (Catches the sword boomerang) “Hell yeah! I could keep this up all night!” Before he could continue fighting, the StarTrix suddenly beeped and faded to blue, signaling that it had finished its cooldown cycle. The energy coursing through his body began to fade, leaving him feeling somewhat fatigued. Theo: “On second thought, maybe I’ll just turn into something to finish this.” Theo pulled up the StarTrix and transformed into Broken Dream Boulevard, summoning a series of large vines to rip through the remaining undead’s bodies and tear them to pieces. Looking around to make sure there weren’t any left, he spotted the metal-jawed skeleton from before, still watering the flowers. BDB: “Yo. You aren’t planning on attacking me, right?” Skeleton: “Undead Ed don’t care. I’m just here to garden. ‘Sides, even if I wanted to, you just cleared out those guys almost as fast as my ex-wife could clear out the kitchen!” As Undead Ed laughed at his own corny joke, Broken Dream Boulevard just rolled his eyes and kept walking up the path to the castle. ---- to the underground base, where all hell has broken loose. The Alpha Team is taking cover from a hail of gunfire behind Herc and Nova’s shields while Moranna is activating the AemuTrix. Pyros: “Ya know, we could really use that Praesigner or whatever right about now!” Herc: “Praesignis!” Nova: “Right now, it’s either the shield or getting gunned down pretty much instantly. I don’t really have a lot of options at the moment!” Moranna: “I might be able to take care of that.” Moranna pressed a button on the AemuTrix’s holographic interface, transforming into Briiz. Herc: “Okay, how many people on this stupid planet can transform?!” Nova: “More than you’d think.” Briiz flew into the air, drawing some of the gunfire to her. The shots passed through her ethereal body with no effect, hitting the ceiling behind her. She raised her arms, summoning a wind into the area that swiftly turned into a full-on tornado, sending anyone and anything not bolted to the ground flying around the room. Nova expanded her shield construct to cover the rest of the team, sheltering them from the harsh winds. Pyros: “Holy hell! That’s what I call crowd control!” Herc: “I think I’d appreciate it more if there wasn’t a chance of blowing us away with everybody else!” Nova: “Well, you just take what you can get, I guess.” Outside of the shield dome, Briiz was continuing the onslaught of wind. After a few moments, a door on the upper level of the area opened, followed by Orion stepping out of the room as the figure from the beginning of the episode stood in the doorway. Orion was seemingly unaffected by the winds, standing normally as if nothing was happening. Orion: “I don’t see how this is my problem.” ???: “And it’s just a coincidence that our base is discovered for the first time since it’s been on this planet shortly after you show up?! Must I remind you that I said I would hold you personally responsible for any unexpected complications?!” Orion: “That’s still fairly unreasonable, but fine. Give me a moment.” Orion grabbed a hold of the metal railing lining the scaffolding he was standing on and snapped off a chunk, effortlessly straightening it out with his bare hands. ???: “What are you doing?!” Orion: “Quiet. You’ll see in a moment.” Orion carefully eyed Briiz for a few moments, then suddenly threw the metal bar towards her like a javelin. Traveling through the air with enough force that it was only slightly affected by the wind, the bar reached Briiz in less than five seconds, impaling her directly through the center of the AemuTrix symbol. Though Briiz was unharmed, the AemuTrix sparked and buzzed, suddenly deactivating and reverting Moranna back to human in midair. She fell to earth with a thud, the metal bar still impaled through her chest. ---- to Theo running through the stone castle, following the tracker on the Star Driver Gauntlet. After a few moments, he turns the corner into a long stone hallway, spotting Aeron lying near the end of it, seemingly unconscious. Theo: “...Okay, I was not expecting that.” He looked around for a few moments, trying to spot anything that might seem out of place. Theo: “Hm. Still not entirely convinced this isn’t a trap. Rolling Stone!” Rolling Stone appeared in a flash of blue energy, landing on the ground with a heavy thud. It made its way over to Aeron, kneeling down over him and tapping him a couple times. Theo: “Huh. I guess he’s really-” Theo was interrupted by Aeron suddenly snapping awake and punching Rolling Stone away. The force of the blow chipped off a small part of Rolling Stone’s head, which was unexpectedly mirrored by a small cut appearing on Theo’s face. Theo: “What the hell?!” Theo deactivated the StarTrix, recalling Rolling Stone. Aeron slowly got to his feet, laughing maniacally the entire time. Aeron: “And here I thought I was gonna die from that! I guess his little spiel about sunlight makes a bit more sense now, though!” Theo: “What the hell is going on?! How did you transfer Rolling Stone’s injury to my face?!” Aeron: (Stops laughing and looks at Theo) “Huh? I had nothing to do with that. I was laughing because of something else.” Theo: “Which would be?” Aeron: (Chuckles) “You know, for someone who’s able to track me down so well, you sure aren’t very good at picking up on context clues.” Theo: “What are you talking about?” Aeron’s eyes glowed a bright red as he flashed a toothy grin, revealing long fangs in place of his canines. Aeron: “I’m a vampire now, bitch!” Theo: (Stares in disbelief) “...You have got to be kidding me.” ---- back to the underground base, where Orion is staring down across the room. Orion: “I think that should take care of it.” He turned around to find the figure in the doorway staring at him in shock. Orion: “Are we going to finish the negotiations or not?” ???: “Yes, yes, right away!” The figure quickly scrambled out of the doorway. Orion sighed and shook his head before re-entering the room, closing the door behind him. Back under the shield construct, the Alpha Team had noticed that the wind had suddenly stopped. F3: “Uh...you think it’s safe to go out there now?” Herc: “Worth a look.” Nova dissipated the shield dome, breathing a sigh of relief. Said relief was short-lived, however, as the team found the army of assassins recovering from the attack, with varying levels of consciousness. Pyros: “Oh, come on! That didn’t knock you guys out?!” Assassin: “We’re highly trained assassins with cybernetic implants. What makes you think a little wind would incapacitate us?” Nova: “Wait a second, where’s Mrs. Logical?” She quickly scanned the area, spotting Moranna slowly getting up on the other side of the room. This was somewhat hampered by the fact that she had a metal bar sticking through her chest. The AemuTrix symbol was shattered, and a group of recovering assassins began to surround her. Nova: (Eyes widened) “Pyros! Go see if you can help her with the whole “metal bar in the chest” thing!” Pyros: “On it!” Pyros began running towards Moranna, but was cut off by several assassins surrounding him. 1: “You’re not going anywhere!” Pyros: “Alright, see, that might sound like a legit threat to me if y’all weren’t standing in my blast zone.” 1: “Your what?” Pyros: “Lemme put it this way...” Pyros suddenly created an explosion of flames, burning the assassins surrounding him and sending them flying. Pyros: “Close quarters with a fire-controlling pyromaniac is not a good idea!” Meanwhile, Moranna had managed to stand up, but was currently surrounded by a good number of assassins. 2: “And just where do you think you’re going?” 3: “In case you haven’t noticed, you’ve got a metal bar through your chest. I’m no biology expert, but I think that’s usually an issue for humans.” Moranna: “...You’re right...for normal humans, this would be a big problem.” Moranna suddenly grabbed the metal bar and slid it out of her chest, slamming it over the head of the nearest assassin. Blood spurted from the wound for a few moments before suddenly coagulating and stopping the flow. Moranna: (Angrily) “But thanks to you bastards, I’m not a normal human!” 3: “What the he-” He was suddenly cut off by Moranna catching a hold of his uniform with the end of the metal bar and tossing him into some of the approaching assassins. Moranna: “I didn’t even meet another human until I was sixteen years old!” She swiftly swiped the legs out from under the nearest assassins and used the metal bar knock away a few more, not letting up her attack even as she was speaking. Moranna: “I didn’t know anything about Earth or humanity! I didn’t even get to know my own family!” She kept attacking with the metal bar, each carefully-executed movement knocking out another assassin around her. Moranna: “This organization wanted the perfect human assassin, and they got one!” With that, she smashed the metal bar across the head of the last assassin near her, knocking them out. Breathing heavily, she tossed away the now thoroughly bent metal bar, staring down at the unconscious forms surrounding her with disdain. Moranna: “Now you can choke on it.” ---- back to Theo and Aeron facing off. Theo: “So, what, you’re actually a legit vampire now?” Aeron: (Smugly) “As far as I can tell, yeah.” Theo: “Then all you really accomplished was making my job easier!” Theo swiftly pulled up the StarTrix and transformed into All☆Star, flying across the room to one of the large glass windows and slowly beginning to absorb moonlight. All☆Star: “I may not be able to get very much power from this, but I don’t think I’m really going to need that much anyways!” Aeron: “What makes you think I’m just going to let you charge up like that?!” Aeron lunged at All☆Star with inhuman speed, punching a hole directly through his torso and shattering the window behind him before he could react. All☆Star’s eyes glazed over and he fell backwards through the open hole. Satisfied with this, Aeron walked away from the window. Aeron: “This is amazing! Who cares if I can’t go out into sunlight anymore? I can do whatever the hell I want during the night!” Aeron began laughing, thinking of all he could accomplish with his new powers. Aeron: “And to think I wouldn’t have come to this timeline if that moron hadn’t started chasing me around in the first place! Irony is truly a wonderful thing!” Aeron began to walk back down the hallway, but was interrupted by a rainbow-colored beam of sparkling light suddenly flying past his head. Aeron: “What the hell?!” The light swerved around in midair and shot towards Aeron again, forcing him to duck out of the way. Aeron: “The hell kind of light is this? Is it targeting me?!” Aeron’s question was swiftly answered by the light redirecting itself towards him once again. Tired of dodging, Aeron simply broke off a chunk of rock from the stone floor and held it up in front of him. The light hit the rock and blew it apart, barely fazing Aeron. After a few moments, what appeared to be a blue, gangly version of All☆Star flew into the hallway through the broken window. ???: “You’re really too quick to assume you can look away from a target.” Aeron: “Is that so? And what are you supposed to be?” ???: “Meet All☆Star Requiem. This form will be your sparring partner throughout the relatively short rest of your life.” Aeron: “Oh, this is too good. Some rainbow-spewing zombie is going to defeat me?” ASR: “That’s the gist of it, yes.” Aeron chuckled for a couple moments before shooting All☆Star Requiem a sharp glare. Aeron: “Try me.” ---- to the underground base, where Alpha Team is fighting off the remaining assassins as Moranna is making her way to the room on the upper level. F3: “Hey, I think I know how to take these guys down all at once!” Herc: (Smacking away an assassin with his shield) “Does it involve sleep dust?” F3: “And lots of it!” Herc sighed and motioned for the team to reconvene near the elevator. They did so as quickly as possible, with Herc and Nova setting up shields to cover them. Herc: “Alright, what’s this big idea?” F3: “Look, my sleep dust doesn’t have much range. I can shoot it a few meters, more if I bunch it up and lob it, but it’s still sort of inconvenient.” Reaper: “If you could get to the point, please.” F3: (Points to Herc and Nova) “How good are you two at making fans?” Nova: “...I think I’m liking this plan already.” ---- to All☆Star Requiem and Aeron facing off. ASR is shooting multiple rainbow beams at Aeron, who is doing his best to dodge out of the way. ASR: “You can’t keep this up forever!” Aeron: “Fortunately, I don’t have to! Black Hole Sun!” Black Hole Sun appeared in a flash of red energy and created a field of darkness around himself and Aeron, absorbing the rainbow beams into his body. Hole Sun: “You certainly took your time summoning me.” Aeron: “With any luck, I’ll be able to turn that into a habit. Take care of this idiot, would ya?” Hole Sun: “Which one?” Aeron: “I swear to god Ego, I am not in the mood!” Hole Sun: “Calling me by my own name. You must really be pissed.” Aeron: “Shut up and kill him!” Black Hole Sun turned and flew over to All☆Star Requiem, grabbing a hold of his neck and attempting to absorb his thermal energy. This did not work. ASR: “Hard to take what isn’t there in the first place, isn’t it?!” All☆Star Requiem kneed Black Hole Sun in the gut, grabbing his face before he could recover. ASR: “Neat trick, though. I think I’ll try it!” All☆Star Requiem began absorbing Black Hole Sun’s thermal energy, quickly freezing him over. Frost began to form on his body as the air surrounding him cooled. ASR: “Hey, Aeron! Catch!” All☆Star Requiem tossed the frozen Black Hole Sun at Aeron, who casually swatted him out of the way, shattering his body in the process. Aeron: “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but my aliens are rather disposable compared to yours.” ASR: “I have, and it’s a royal pain in the ass!” Aeron: “Not my problem. Clockwork!” Clockwork appeared in a burst of red energy, swiftly stopping time around Aeron. Clockwork: “What’s wrong? Can’t take him?” Aeron: “I don’t really know at this point. I just became a vampire like ten minutes ago though, so I’d rather not take any chances.” Clockwork: “Hm. Onto the next timeline?” Aeron: “You know it.” Clockwork sighed and opened up a portal beneath him and Aeron, closing it behind them as they dropped through. Time resumed, leaving a very irritated All☆Star Requiem alone in the castle halls. ASR: “What the-god dammit! Not again!” All☆Star Requiem reached for the StarTrix symbol, but paused upon hearing a set of footsteps walking down the hall behind him. ASR: (Thinking) ‘I swear to god, if this is another vampire or something, I am going to kick someone’s ass.’ ---- to the room where Orion and the unnamed figure are sitting, discussing the final terms of their deal. All of a sudden, the door to the room slams open, revealing a very irate Moranna. ???: “What the hell?! Who are you?!” Moranna: “Moranna Ceres. You’re the current leader of the guild, I presume?” ???: “Wait a moment...Ceres...I recognize that name.” (Thinks for a few moments) “Hold on! You’re that human brat that left the guild and got the founder and everyone on the Earth and Selus strike forces found and arrested! It’s because of you that the guild’s been wasting away!” Moranna: “And I plan to finish the job.” ???: “Orion, do something about this!” Orion: “As I recall, it was I'' that hired ''you and your forces as a private army.” ???: “But you-” Orion: “Have absolutely nothing to do with this. This seems like unresolved inner conflict, so I believe the burden of handling it falls onto your shoulders. Besides...” Orion walked over to the room’s window and looked out over the base, the bottom half of which was currently filled with sleep dust being blown into the room from the elevator. Orion: “It appears as if your forces are out for the count anyways. Consider our deal off.” ???: “You can’t just-” Orion: “Yes, I can. I’ve wasted enough time here already.” (Pulls out a small communicator) “Ophiuchus, bring me out.” Orion suddenly vanished from the room, having presumably been teleported away by Ophiuchus. Moranna wasted no time in drawing her blade and cornering the figure, who drew out a taydenite-coated sword in response. Moranna: (Scoffs) “Now I remember you. You’re Baxtrius, the second in command. Bang-up job you’ve been doing as the actual leader.” Baxtrius: “I don’t need to take criticism from some backstabbing waif!” Moranna: “You always did have a massive ego. Too bad you can’t back it up.” Baxtrius: (Seething) “Why, you little...I’ll kill you for that!” Baxtrius lunged at Moranna, wildly swinging her sword at her. Moranna calmly countered with her blade, fending off each strike. On the last swing, Moranna slid underneath the sword and behind Baxtrius, placing a small device of some sort on her gun. Moranna: “You get worked up too easily.” Baxtrius: (Whirls around) “I’ll show you worked up!” Baxtrius pulled out a heat grenade and lobbed it at Moranna, who swiftly rolled out of the way as it hit the ground and exploded. Baxtrius: “You think you can just break in here and take me down on your own?! Who’s the one with the ego here?!” Moranna: “I admittedly didn’t imagine things going exactly like this. But that’s the thing about humans...” Moranna suddenly grabbed a nearby chair and smashed it over her knee, throwing the splintered shards of wood at Baxtrius, who was forced to dodge out of the way. Moranna: “We’re fairly adaptable.” As Baxtrius was dodging, Moranna figured out where her next step would land and quickly tossed a chunk of wood under her, causing her to trip and fall to the ground. Before she could recover, Moranna had already tossed aside her sword and grabbed her by the neck of her uniform, lifting her into the air. Baxtrius: (Angrily) “Wh-why are you doing all this?! Why couldn’t you just leave us alone?!” Moranna: “This organization abducted me and transformed me into an emotionless killing machine. I was lucky enough to find people that helped me build a normal life, but I wanted to make sure you could never do that to another person ever again.” Moranna tossed Baxtrius to the floor, turning away and walking to the door. Moranna: “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll turn yourself in. If not...you’ll be receiving another visit.” Baxtrius shook in barely-contained rage as Moranna walked away, her eyes twitching wildly. Baxtrius: (Thinking) ‘You think you can turn your back on me without killing me?! I don’t know if you’re arrogant or just plain stupid, but either way, you’re going to regret that!’ Baxtrius silently rose to her feet and pulled out her gun, aiming it directly at the back of Moranna’s head and pulling the trigger. Nothing happened. Moranna: “...You would’ve been better off just waiting for the Plumbers.” Baxtrius: “Wh-what?!” The remaining heat grenades in Baxtrius’s utility belt suddenly began beeping. Baxtrius: “What did you do?!” Moranna: “While you were swiping at me earlier, I placed a signal transfer bug on your gun, disabling it and setting the trigger to activate your heat grenades. If you weren’t this worked up, you probably would’ve noticed.” Baxtrius: “I-impossible! Where did you get that kind of technology?!” Moranna: “Let’s just say I know a guy who’s good with tech.” Baxtrius tried lunging at Moranna, who simply kicked her back and exited the room, slamming the door behind her. Baxtrius: “NO! DAMN YO-” Baxtrius was cut off by the heat grenades exploding, instantaneously burning her in a fiery inferno. Moranna sighed in frustration and made her way over to the scaffolding’s railing, looking down over the room. The sleep dust had settled, leaving the remaining assassins knocked out. Moranna: “If I never have to deal with this damned guild again, it’ll still be too soon.” ---- back to the castle’s stone hallway, where All☆Star Requiem is carefully listening to the footsteps approaching. ???: “And who are you supposed to be?” All☆Star Requiem whipped around and created a ray of light from his hand, holding it out in front of himself. Standing directly in the beam of light was Rozalio, who was squinting with an annoyed expression on his face. Rozalio: “If you could stop shining that directly in my face, please, I would be ever so appreciative.” ASR: (Lowers arm) “Oh, sorry, my bad. Thought you might’ve been a vampire or something.” Rozalio: “I am a vampire.” ASR: “What?” It was then that All☆Star Requiem noticed Rozalio’s skin sparkling with light for a moment before the effect wore off. ASR: “I have several questions.” Rozalio: “It’s a light refraction spell that transfers light over my skin to various “spark points” where it can safely dissipate. It took me years to perfect, but I’d say it’s perfectly worth it.” Rozalio began walking away, prompting Theo to transform back into human and begin following him. Theo: “Hold on, so you’re actually a vampire? Do you know how Aeron got turned into one?” Rozalio: “I assume you’re talking about the pale-skinned boy with a less than impressive head on his shoulders.” Theo: “Right. I’ve been chasing him all over the multiverse, and this new development really isn’t going to help the situation.” Rozalio: “In that case, I must apologize. I turned him into a vampire without realizing the difficulties it might impose on others.” Theo: “Wait, you’re the one who turned him into-” (Sighs) “Well, that’s just great. Is there any way to undo that?” Rozalio: “No.” Theo: “Shit.” Rozalio: “However, I may be able to help you in a different manner.” Theo: “What do you mean?” Rozalio: “Follow me, please.” Rozalio and Theo walked through the castle’s halls for a few minutes, eventually arriving in Rozalio’s study. Rozalio walked over to one of the shelves and pulled out a few books, placing his hand inside the hole they left. After a few moments, there was a small click, and the shelf next to it swung open, revealing a small room. Theo: “That doesn’t seem like the best security system.” Rozalio: “It only opens for me. Besides, even if it opened for everyone, my usual security system of zombies and skeletons should keep any snooping troublemakers out. How did you get past those, anyways?” Theo: “Those were your security system? I, uh...mighta punched them all to death. Well, re-death. My bad.” Rozalio: “No big loss. I can simply reconstitute their bodies. Again. In any case...” Rozalio entered the small room behind the shelves, emerging from it a moment later, carrying a small, ornate fob watch. Rozalio: “Out of all the artifacts I’ve discovered over the years, this one may just be the most precious, even more so than my World Brace.” Rozalio flipped open the watch, revealing the clock face inside to be written in strange, otherworldly symbols, while the clock hands seemed to be moving counterclockwise. Theo: “What is it?” Rozalio: “This is the Celestial Clock. I had to search all over the planet for centuries to finally track it down, but it was more than worth it in my eyes.” Theo: “Why? What does it do?” Rozalio: “This watch is rumored to have been created by a member of an extraterrestrial race known as “Celestialsapiens”. I’m still deciphering the full extent of its history and functionality, but I was able to glean at least two things for certain from the hieroglyphs covering the ruins I found it in." Rozalio snapped his fingers, causing a nearby journal to hover out of the bookshelves and open to a certain set of notes. Rozalio: "First, it was created to somehow counter some sort of inter-dimensional timeline-destroying being, though I’m not sure what that might be. Second, this number right here” (points to a small, glowing rune in the bottom left of the clock face) “goes down every time this “entity”, so to speak, destroys a timeline. Beyond those two facts, most of the glyphs were too worn to read.” Theo: “What does this thing have to do with Aeron?” Rozalio: “I managed to figure out one of its more unique abilities on my own. All you have to do is hold onto it and press the button on the top, and it will show you visions of your future. For example, when I first found it, it showed me discovering a new thunder spell somewhere down the line. Of course, with the knowledge I gained from that, I was able to discover the spell earlier, creating an odd sort of time loop. I suppose creating those is another one of its functions.” Theo: “So you want me to look into my own future and see if that helps me catch Aeron?” Rozalio: “Correct.” Theo: “Well, it’s better than nothing.” Rozalio handed the Celestial Clock to Theo, who gripped it tightly in his right hand. Taking a deep breath, he pressed down on the button on top of the watch. Nothing happened. Theo: “Uh...am I doing this right?” Rozalio: “I believe so, but I admit, I’m not even close to fully figuring this thing out. Try again.” Theo shrugged and pressed down on the button again. Almost immediately, he became surrounded by pitch-black darkness and complete silence. It was as if the universe itself had vanished. Theo: “Uh...hello?” After a few moments of receiving no reply, Theo turned around, only to find a tall figure in intimidating black armor staring down at him wordlessly. Theo: “Who are you?” The dark figure stared at him in silence for a few moments before suddenly turning and beginning to walk away. Theo attempted to reach towards it, but was interrupted by the ground unexpectedly falling out from beneath him. Theo: “What the hell?!” Theo suddenly hit the ground with a large thud. Groaning in pain, he slowly pulled himself to his feet and looked around, finding himself in what appeared to be a door-less room in a spacious library of some sort. Said library was absolutely covered in blood and gore. Theo looked down to find his hands covered in blood, presumably from pushing himself off the ground. Theo: “...Like I wasn't already weirded out by all this.” After walking around the room a few times to see if there was anything there, Theo simply stood in place for a few moments, utterly confused. All of a sudden, the unmistakable sound of bones snapping came from across the room, prompting him to whirl around and see what was going on. Across the room from him was what appeared to be Bomb 2 Hell, covered in blood and viciously smashing apart the charred skeletal remains of what had clearly once been a person. After a few moments, Bomb 2 Hell suddenly stopped assaulting the remains and turned its head to stare at Theo. There was a tense period of silence as the two stared wordlessly at each other. Theo: (Thinking) ‘Is that...me?’ Theo’s reflection on the situation was swiftly interrupted by Bomb 2 Hell suddenly charging at him. Its movements were unnerving, resembling those of a wounded animal more than those of a sentient being. Theo took this as his cue to get the hell out of there. As he ran to the opposite side of the room, a door suddenly appeared where there had been none before. Deciding not to question this sudden development, Theo flung the door open and began running through a long hallway lined with shelves of books. Bomb 2 Hell was slowly gaining on him, and it seemed that no matter how fast Theo ran, Bomb 2 Hell would eventually overtake him As the feral alien was about to grab onto Theo, the floor fell out from under him again, sending him falling through seemingly infinite blackness. After a few moments of this, Theo’s eyes suddenly snapped back open in the real world, the shock of the experience sending him tripping backwards. He lost his grip on the Celestial Clock, allowing it to fall to the floor. Rozalio: (Eyes wide) “What happened? What did you see?” Theo: (Pulling himself up off the ground and grabbing the Celestial Clock) “I don’t know, and frankly, I don’t really want to know. Thanks for trying to help, but I think I should probably just leave.” Theo handed the Celestial Clock to Rozalio and turned to walk out of the room. Rozalio: “...I see. Two last things before you go.” Rozalio walked up next to Theo and held the Celestial Clock up in front of them, pointing to the clock hands. Rozalio: “First, something odd happened to the Celestial Clock around twenty-five years ago. One day, out of the blue, the clock hands simply stopped moving. I was never able to figure out why, but the hands only began moving again a few months ago.” Theo: “Do you think it means something?” Rozalio: “There’s definitely a meaning behind it, but I don’t know what it is. If it’s not too much trouble, I’d like you to keep an eye out for any temporal anomalies that might be related to this. We don’t want to take any chances.” Theo: “Fair enough. I’ll come back here and let you know if I find anything.” Rozalio: “Thank you. As for the second thing...” Rozalio hovered out of the room, returning a few minutes later with the stone tablet he had used with Aeron earlier. Theo: “What’s that?” Rozalio: “This is the Measuring Stone. By placing your hand on the main part of the tablet, the Stone can show your overall magic type and potential. For example, when I place my hand on it...” Rozalio placed his right hand on the tablet, causing the rune at the top to light up with an intense yellow glow. Rozalio: “The yellow color indicates that my strongest field of magic is electricity magic, and the bright glow indicates that I have immense potential as a magic user, most of which I have fulfilled already.” Theo: “And you want to see what this thing reads for me?” Rozalio: (Nods) “I’ve been looking for someone to apprentice in the field of magic for a while now. Preferably someone that could conceivably learn what I have to teach within their own natural lifespan.” Theo: “I guess I’ll give it a go, but I wouldn’t expect too much if I were you.” Rozalio: “You never know.” Theo placed his right hand on the tablet. Almost immediately, the rune on top lit up with a white light, shining almost as brightly as it did for Rozalio, who grinned as Theo pulled his hand back in surprise. Rozalio: “Well, it appears you have some immense potential in the field of celestial magic. I’m impressed.” Theo: “That’s kinda...weird. I’ve never felt particularly tuned in to mana or magic or whatever.” Rozalio: “The capability to use magic doesn’t come from being “naturally tuned into it”, though that may help. It comes from being able to adapt and grow your inner life force to be at one with the forces you attempt to control.” Theo: “...Well, I guess the adaptability part makes this a bit more sensible.” Rozalio: “Good to hear. So, would you be interested in learning magic from me?” Theo: “Would it help me take down Aeron?” Rozalio: “Celestial magic is incredibly useful against creatures of the night, such as vampires, so I would say “yes” to that inquiry.” Theo: “In that case, hell yeah. Not now, though. It’s been a long day, and I really should get home.” Rozalio: “Understandable.” Theo pulled up the StarTrix and transformed into Final Countdown. Rozalio: “Come to think of it, I don’t think I ever got your name, or vice versa. My name is Rozalio Gold.” Countdown: “Oh, yeah, I totally spaced it on that one. Anyways, I’m Theodore Logical. Nice to meet you.” Rozalio: “Same to you.” Final Countdown nodded and exited the room via a portal that closed up behind him. After staring at empty space for a few moments, Rozalio turned and casually placed the Celestial Clock in its proper place. Rozalio: “This has certainly been an eventful day.” ---- to the surface above the guild’s base, where a full Plumber unit has shown up to arrest the remaining guild members. Moranna is standing off to the side as the Alpha Team is speaking with the Plumbers. After a while, everyone in the base is cleared out and arrested, prompting the Plumbers to take their leave. While the rest of the Alpha Team is talking amongst themselves, Nova walks over to Moranna. Nova: “You doing okay? You still haven’t gotten anything done about that chest wound.” Moranna: (Nods) “It’ll heal within a couple days. I suppose that’s something I have to thank the guild for.” Nova: “Oh. Neat.” Moranna: “That’s one way to put it.” Nova: “Say, what are you gonna do about the AemuTrix? Are you going to see if Xr. Nullamor can fix it?” Moranna: “No need. It’s taken me over twenty-five years of investigation and intervention, but I think I’m finally done with this chapter of my life.” Nova: “Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Do you need a ride home?” Moranna: “Who’s driving?” Nova gestured to F3, who was currently struggling to get the minivan’s side door open. Moranna: “...I think I’ll just have Isaac teleport me home. Assuming he still remembers he has the Kanipoto transformation, that is.” Nova: “Okay. See you later!” Nova ran over to the rest of the Alpha Team, swiftly grabbing the minivan’s side door and sliding it open herself before climbing in, much to F3’s surprise. Moranna watched the van drive out of the area with a slightly bemused expression. After a few moments, she picked up her cell phone and called Isaac. Moranna: “Hi, Isaac? Two things. First, could you pick me up real quick? I’ll explain when you get here.” (Waits a few moments for him to reply) “Okay. Second...we are going to have a very long talk with Theodore when he gets home.” ---- to Theo walking up to his house later at night. Theo: “Ugh. As if I didn’t have enough stuff to worry about, Aeron’s a vampire now and my “future” looks bat-shit insane. I just hope nothing else will pop up anytime soo-” Theo opened the front door and cut himself off while speaking, finding his parents waiting for him in the hallway with very cross expressions. After a few moments of awkward silence, Theo slowly began backing out the door. Isaac: (Firmly) “Get back in here, young man. We have a lot to talk about.” Theo: (Sighs) “Well, crap.” ---- to the back room of a small shop. A large computer-like machine is mounted across the wall, with a monitor and keyboard mounted on its left. Xr. Nullamor is seen standing in front of a different monitor, talking to an unseen person over video chat. Nullamor: "Long story short, I could use your help figuring out what these things are." ???: "The fact that you of all people are asking for help already indicates this being serious, I suppose. I'm rather busy, but I'll be there as soon as my schedule allows." Nullamor: "Okay, thanks. Uh, quick question, you aren't still mad about me swiping those blueprints back in the day, are you?" ???: "Should I be? You never did anything with them other than build a knockoff that made the Nemetrix look advanced." Nullamor: "Wow, okay, rude." ???: "Am I wrong?" Nullamor: "Well, I mean-" ???: "I'll take that as a "no". I'll be seeing you, I suppose." Nullamor: "Azmuth, you frog-ass fuck! Don't just-" Azmuth ended the call on his end, leaving Nullamor staring angrily at a blank screen. After a few moments, he huffed in frustration and turned away from the computer. Nullamor: "Well, whatever. At least my knockoff is still working." A notification popped up on Nullamor's desktop, indicating the arrival of a new email. Nullamor: (Turns back to the monitor) "Speak of the devil. Looks like it's from Ceres." There was a pause as Nullamor read the email. Nullamor: "...FUCK." ---- to a dark room in an unknown location. A figure cloaked in darkness is staring at a crystal ball in apparent confusion, tapping their head in thought. ???: “...Interesting. I’m not sure who this “Jester” is, but it appears as if he’s thrown a bit of a wrench into things. Whether he realized it or not, his tampering with the StarTrix has activated the nanomachines’ fail-safe. This could prove...problematic.” After a few moments, the figure chuckled to itself. ???: “Then again, if his performance against the undead was any indication, he should survive as long as I need him to just fine. Failing that...” The figure snapped its fingers, causing the crystal ball to evaporate away into bluish smoke. ???: (Grins) “The Jester isn’t the only reality warper capable of interfering.” Major Events *Aeron is turned into a vampire. *The AemuTrix is destroyed. *All☆Star Requiem makes his debut. *The remaining members of the Assassin's Guild are defeated by the Alpha Team and arrested by the Plumbers. *Isaac and Moranna find out about Theo hopping timelines. *Theo agrees to learn magic from Rozalio Gold. Characters Protagonists *Theodore Logical *Nova Eldridge *Herc *F3 *Pyros *Reaper *Moranna Ceres Antagonists *Aeron *Ego *Undead Army *Assassin's Guild (Disbanded) **Baxtrius (Debut; Death) Neutral *Rozalio Gold *The Jester Minor *Undead Ed *Orion *Xr. Nullamor *Azmuth Aliens Used By Theo *Kugelblitz *Broken Dream Boulevard *Rolling Stone *All☆Star **All☆Star Requiem *Final Countdown By Aeron *Black Hole Sun *Clockwork By Moranna *Briiz Category:Earth-83